<p>After seeing Facebook explode with non-scientists excited about recent news about the Higgs boson, I am curious - why is everyone so excited? I have the typical undergraduate engineering student understanding of physics, but I have no idea what the heck this thing means. CNN tells me it's really important and we've been searching for it for years, and that it answers many questions about the origin of the universe, etc. These articles are completely devoid of any scientific information. One quite confused commenter on the CNN article thought that the discovery of this "God particle" has proven the existence of God. </p>
<p>Can anyone explain it in a way undergrad engineering students might understand? </p>
<p>Why is it important, what are its implications and how can these discoveries be applied to benefit us? What IS it? I have read the standard explanation - that it's a particle that somehow gives all other particles in the universe mass, and that it is associated with some sort of field... but that doesn't mean much to me! What does it mean to "give" other particles mass? Is everything massless unless it is experiencing this field? Is this field constant throughout the universe? Does it mean the mass of everything in the universe could somehow be changed, just like your weight could be changed in a different gravitational field, or is that a terrible comparison because weight is a force and is associated with motion, not a property like mass? Does this field have anything to do with magnetic, electric, or gravitational fields?</p>
<p>Is it even news? Based on my interpretation of the news, I got the impression that they didn't actually discover the Higgs boson, but they discovered what may be its mass (if it's not a different particle altogether?) Of course, it's quite apparent that the reporters on CNN also have no idea what this thing is or why it's important. </p>
<p>It seems like explanations on the internet are either written for the totally uninformed, or for a PhD Physicist!</p>